Egypt has taken a significant step towards legal equality for its Christian community with the signing of a long-awaited Personal Status Law.
On December 14th, 2024, the Ministry of Justice and the five officially recognized Christian sects in Egypt signed the draft law, a milestone in legally recognizing Christian family matters within the country.
The next step involves presenting the draft law to the House of Representatives, where a dedicated committee will review it and propose any necessary amendments. Following this review, the law will be put to a vote in the legislature. If passed, this will constitute Egypt’s first-ever comprehensive legal framework for Christian personal status matters.
This agreement, championed by Coptic Orthodox advisor and MP Monsef Naguib Suleiman, marks the culmination of decades of effort. In a televised phone call with MBC Masr, Suleiman elaborated on the protracted drafting process, which commenced in 1977.
He attributed the recent progress to the President’s directives, enabling the development of a comprehensive and unified version of the law, now endorsed by all five Christian denominations.
Key provisions of the new law include expanded grounds for divorce. Previously, divorce within the Christian community was highly restricted, primarily limited to cases of infidelity or conversion to another religion or sect. In such instances, divorce proceedings were court-mandated, while the church’s role was confined to granting permission for the aggrieved party to remarry.
Significantly, the new law, as outlined by Suleiman, prohibits divorce based solely on changes in religious affiliation. Divorce proceedings will now be governed by the laws of the sect within which the marriage was initially conducted.
Furthermore, the law includes measures to prevent the manipulation of the legal system. For instance, it restricts the practice of exploiting religious conversion as a means to obtain a divorce, a loophole previously exploited by some individuals.
However, the new law recognizes other legitimate grounds for divorce, such as deception regarding a chronic illness (including infertility) or a separation lasting three years or more. In addition, the law highlights gender equality in inheritance. The new law adheres to Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution, which mandates compliance with the provisions of holy books. Notably, it enshrines the principle of gender equality in inheritance, ensuring that men and women inherit equally.
This decision reflects the church’s commitment to equality as outlined in religious texts. Suleiman also noted that there are 80 articles in common with the Personal Status Law for Muslims, explaining that these are the provisions related to custody, visitation, and alimony.
He confirmed that the Personal Status Law has gained the consensus of all five Christian denominations in Egypt: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, and Coptic Catholic. He added that this agreement among these denominations will have a significant positive impact on resolving more than 90% of the legal problems facing Christian families. This law is a major step towards improving the legal status of Christian families in Egypt.
Through the Personal Status Law, there will be an opportunity to regulate many issues that have been pending for years, including issues of custody, divorce, and property division, as well as ensuring the rights of children in cases of separation or divorce.
This law holds the potential to significantly improve the lives of Egypt’s Christian population, which, according to Pope Tawadros II’s 2023 estimates, comprised approximately 15% of the country’s 105 million people, or roughly 9.5 to 11 million individuals.
